The present invention is directed to a process for producing polyurethane adhesives, especially pressure sensitive adhesives utilizing a hydroxy-terminated urethane extended polyether (ester) polyol and a moderate range molecular weight diisocyanate. The resulting adhesives provide excellent adhesive and wear characteristics and are essentially non-cytotoxic making them particularly useful for medical applications such as in ostomy and wound care.
The present invention is generally directed to the field of synthetic polymeric adhesive compositions, especially polyurethane adhesive compositions, particularly adapted for medical devices such as in the areas of ostomy, wound care and the like.
Adhesives have been used to affix ostomy appliances and wound dressings to the human body. Such appliances require a skin-contacting layer having an adhesive thereon which must be compatible with the skin. The cytotoxicity of the adhesive, measured by methods described in U.S. Pharmacopeia XXII, pp. 1495-1496, (1990) and supplement 9, pp. 3575-3576 (Sep. 15, 1993) incorporated herein by reference, cannot exceed a rating of 2 for use in such medical devices. In addition, many wound care applications use pressure-sensitive adhesives for adhesion of wound dressings to the patient""s skin. Medical applications of this type require that the adhesive exhibit low cytotoxicity (i.e. grade levels of 2 or less, preferably zero).
Pressure-sensitive adhesives made with polyurethane polymers based on aliphatic, cycloaliphatic and araliphatic polyisocyanates, or prepolymers thereof, are especially attractive for use in medical devices. Such adhesives are transparent, non-discoloring, have a high degree of skin-tack and exhibit excellent adhesive and cohesive strength even after repeated removal and repositioning on the skin.
However, the polymerization of such polyisocyanates or prepolymers thereof, with hydroxyl-terminated polyols to form pressure-sensitive polyurethane adhesives must be performed in the presence of a catalyst. A variety of urethane-forming catalysts are disadvantageous because they are typically cytotoxic, not sufficiently active, catalyze undesirable oxidative degradation reactions and/or generate undesirable isocyanate trimers.
For example, most tertiary amines are not active enough for the polymerization of pressure-sensitive polyurethane adhesives from polyisocyanates or prepolymers thereof. Tertiary amines which are sufficiently active generally cause severe skin irritation and therefore cannot be used in medical applications. In addition, most tertiary amines have unacceptable grade levels of cytotoxicity.
Transition metal catalysts are also well known for use in the production of polyurethane adhesives. These catalysts are very potent but exhibit unacceptable cytotoxicity levels and often catalyze undesirable side reactions such as isocyanate trimerization. These undesirable side reactions tend to increase crosslink density and decrease desirable adhesive properties such as elongation, tear resistance and cohesive strength.
It is known in the art that transition metal catalysts formed from organic tin (II) salts and organotin (IV) compounds are highly efficient catalysts for the formation of polyurethane adhesives. They are advantageous because they do not catalyze the formation of isocyanate trimers.
Efforts have been made to employ acceptable catalysts for the formation of polyurethane adhesives. Much attention has been focused on the organic tin (II) salts and organotin (IV) compounds in the search for low cytotoxicity level catalysts for the formation of polyurethane adhesives.
For example, Melvin H. Gitlitz et al. xe2x80x9cKirk Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technologyxe2x80x9d, 3rd Edition (1979) volume 23, pages 69-77 disclose that the toxicity of organic tin compounds is a reflection of their biological activity. The most toxic compounds are lower trialkyl organotin compounds such as trimethyl and triethyl tin derivatives. Di-organotin compounds as a class are substantially less toxic than the analogous tri-organotin compounds. It is stated that dialkyl tin chlorides and oxides generally show decreasing oral toxicity with increasing length of the alkyl chain. Mono-organotin compounds (e.g., monobutyltin sulfide) show decreasing toxicity with increasing alkyl chain length but have a lower order of toxicity than di-organotin compounds. Mono-alkyltin derivatives, however, do not exhibit as high a catalytic activity as dialkyl tin derivatives.
Further efforts have been made to identify transition metal catalysts which can polymerize polyisocyanates and polyols to form acceptable, non-toxic polyurethane adhesives. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,102 discloses a method of preparing pressure-sensitive polyurethane adhesives using tin (II)-ethyl hexoate, ferric acetyl acetonate, tin (II) naphthenate, or dibutyltin (IV) dilaurate. While the adhesives are stated to be optionally clear and color-stable, these catalysts exhibit unacceptable cytotoxicity even at moderate catalyst concentrations. They are therefore unacceptable for use in the production of polyurethane adhesives, especially for medical applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,661,099 discloses a method of producing polyurethane adhesives in the presence of catalysts which accelerate polyurethane formation. Dibutyltin dilaurate is used in high concentrations to catalyze the reaction. There is no mention of cytotoxicity testing of the pressure sensitive adhesive.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,927 discloses non-pressure sensitive polyurethane compositions for use in the manufacture of blood filters. The catalysts employed to form the adhesive include dialkyltin dicarboxylated compounds comprising linear or branched alkyl groups having less than 18 carbon atoms per molecule and carboxylate groups derived from monocarboxylic acids having from 2 to 18 carbon atoms per molecule, aliphatic carboxylic acids having from about 14 to about 20 carbon atoms per molecule and mixtures of the above. A major proportion of the carboxylate moiety comprises carboxylic acid derivatives. The hydroxy-function catalysts disclosed in the ""927 Patent become part of the urethane matrix and may therefore require high cure temperatures on the order of 150 to 160xc2x0 C. At such high temperatures, oxidative degradation of the polyether polymer chains likely occurs.
It would therefore be a significant advance in the art of the formation of polyurethane adhesives if a method could be employed to obtain polyurethane adhesives having exceptional properties including non-cytotoxicity.
It would be a further advance in the art to provide polyurethane adhesives, especially pressure adhesives which are non-cytotoxic and have excellent wear and strength properties.
The present invention is generally directed to polyurethane compositions, especially pressure-sensitive polyurethane compositions and to processes of making the same employing hydroxy-terminated urethane-extended prepolymers in which the formation of the prepolymer and of the polyurethane adhesive composition is performed in the presence of non-cytotoxic catalysts.
In particular, the present invention is, in part, directed to a method of preparing a polyurethane adhesive composition comprising:
a) reacting a polyol component selected from the group consisting of polyether polyols, polyester polyols and combinations thereof having at least 1.75 hydroxy groups per molecule with a diisocyanate compound selected from the group consisting of aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, and araliphatic diisocyanate compounds and combinations thereof in the presence of a non-cytotoxic catalyst to form an intermediate product having a viscosity of at least 5,000 cps when measured at a temperature of from about 25 to 35xc2x0 C.; and
b) reacting greater than a stochiometric amount of the intermediate product with an isocyanate compound having a functionality of at least 2.0 in the presence of a non-cytotoxic catalyst.
Polyurethane compositions prepared by the method are also encompassed by the present invention.
The present invention is directed to the production of polyurethane adhesives, especially adhesives which are pressure-sensitive. It is highly desirable that the polyurethane adhesive compositions of the present invention be suitable for medical applications such as ostomy and wound care. In accordance with the present invention, those reactions requiring use of a catalyst are conducted with a non-cytotoxic catalyst, and in particular, a cytotoxicity grade level of no greater than 2.
In accordance with the present invention, there is first prepared a hydroxyl terminated urethane-extended prepolymer. The prepolymer is prepared by reacting one of a select group of polyether or polyester polyols, preferably linear or branched chain, having at least 1.75 hydroxy groups per molecule, with a diisocyanate compound in the presence of an effective amount of a non-cytotoxic catalyst.
Polyether polyol compounds used for the preparation of the hydroxyl terminated urethane-extended prepolymer are well known in the art. Such compounds can be prepared, for example, by the polymerization of epoxides, such as ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, or 1,2-butylene oxide in the presence of polyfuctional hydroxyl initiators and appropriate catalysts known to accelerate oxyalkylation reactions. For example, when using the cyclic epoxide tetrahydrofuran as the starting material, the oxyalkylation reaction proceeds in the presence of a Lewis acid catalyst. The resulting end groups are converted to hydroxyl moieties by means well known in the art. The low melting points of propylene oxide or ethylene/propylene oxide copolymer adducts, produce oxyalkylation products which are usually liquid at no higher than room temperature. Suitable oxyalkation catalysts for the 1,2-epoxides include alkali metal hydroxides and double metal cyanide catalysts.
Hydroxyl terminated polyethers may be prepared by the addition of the 1,2-epoxide with a compound having reactive hydrogen atoms. Preferred compounds having reactive hydrogen atoms include water, ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, 1,3-propanediol and 1,4-butanediol, or mixtures thereof. These compounds are desirably employed when the desired polyethers are predominately difunctional.
When the desired functionality of the polyether is greater than two, the difunctional glycol initiators can also be admixed with smaller molar proportions of higher functional glycols, such as glycerol, trimethylolpropane, pentaerythritol, xcex1-methylglucoside, sorbitol, and the like. Typically, it is desirable to maintain an average upper limit of the polyether polyol functionality in the range of about 2.5.
When the above-described oxyalkylation reactions of propylene oxide or 1,2-butylene oxide are performed in the presence of alkali metal hydroxides, such as potassium hydroxide, a competing side-reaction for oxyalkylation may be the isomerization of the cyclic 1,2-epoxide to allyl alcohol or 4-methylallyl alcohol. The presence of these alcohols present new active hydrogen initiators for the formation of monofunctional polyalkylene oxides (i.e. xe2x80x9cmonolsxe2x80x9d). These so called xe2x80x9cmonolsxe2x80x9d act as chain stoppers for the subsequent downstream formation of polyurethane polymers or urethane intermediates.
It is well established that when the average molecular weight of linear polypropyleneoxydiols increase in molecular weight, the xe2x80x9cmonolxe2x80x9d content gradually increases so that an average molecular weight of 4,000 for the polypropyleneoxydiols may result in a 40 mol % content of monols. Under these circumstances, it becomes difficult to utilize the higher molecular weight polyetherdiol intermediates for the manufacture of polyurethane derivatives of the present invention.
There have been recent improvements regarding the double metal cyanide catalysis of 1,2-alkylene oxides to decrease the presence of monofunctional by-products (e.g. monols) over the conventional base catalysis of alkyl-substituted 1,2-alkylene oxide polyethers.
Polyether polyols which have been prepared by double metal cyanide catalysis are commercially available as the ACCLAIM(copyright) series of polyether polyols from the ARCO Chemical Company. The mol % xe2x80x9cmonolxe2x80x9d content of these polyether polyols is typically less than 2 mol % preferably about 0.5 mol % or less. Polyether polyols of this type are preferred for use in the present invention to prepare hydroxyl-terminated urethane extended prepolymers.
The average molecular weight of the polyether polyols used for production of polyurethane adhesives in accordance with the present invention is generally in the range of from about 1,000 to 8,000. The preferred molecular weight is from about 1,500 to 6,000. These ranges are applicable to alkyl-substituted polyethers prepared from 1,2-alkylene oxides, as well as to copolyethers made from alkyl-substituted 1,2-epoxides and ethylene oxide. In the case of polyetherdolos made from tetrahydrofuran, a preferred average molecular weight range is from about 1,000 to about 4,000 with a most preferred range being from about 1,500 to 3,000. It will be understood that the polyether polyols mentioned above can be combined together as mixtures.
The polyester polyols can be difunctional and/or trifunctional and may be prepared from substituted or unsubstituted caprolactams especially xcex5-caprolactams and adducts thereof. The average molecular weight range for the polyester polyols is generally the same as for the polyether polyols, typically from about 1,000 to 8,000, preferably from about 1,500 to 6,000.
Polyester polyols can be used alone or in combination with polyether polyols to form the hydroxy terminated urethane extended prepolymer.
The polyether polyols or polyester polyols can be, where desired, combined with a compatible lower molecular weight hydroxy containing compound (e.g., a polyol) which will typically have a molecular weight of no more than about 900, more typically no more than about 500. The term xe2x80x9ccompatiblexe2x80x9d means that the two components are soluble in each other at the operating ratios defined hereinafter.
The amount of the lower molecular weight hydroxy containing compound is such that the operating molar ratio of the lower molecular weight hydroxy group containing compound and the polyether polyol or polyester polyol is from about 0.25 to 1.25:1. The lower molecular weight hydroxy containing compound is preferably combined with the starting material (i.e., polyether or polyester polyol) before the addition of the diisocyanate compound for the purpose of forming the prepolymer.
The lower molecular weight hydroxy group containing compound increases the concentration of urethane groups per repeating polymer unit. It appears that the degree of skin tack and other characteristics such as cohesive strength of the polyurethane adhesive depend to a significant extent upon the molar concentration of the polar urethane group (xe2x80x94NHCOOxe2x80x94), per repeating chain segment of the adhesive matrix polymer.
The selection of the lower molecular weight hydroxy group containing compound for blending with the polyether polyol or polyester polyol depends upon the molecular structure and miscibility parameters of both components. It has been observed that polyoxyalkylene diols derived from propylene oxide, or mixtures of propylene oxide and small quantities of ethylene oxide, are compatible with lower molecular weight oxypropylene polyols such as propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, tripropylene glycol or mixtures thereof typically having a molecular weight of from about 75 to 300. Lower molecular weight hydroxy containing compounds which are readily compatible with polyether polyols having high proportions of ethylene oxide as well as polyester polyols are, for example, ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, glycerol, trimethylolpropane, low molecular weight ethylene oxide derivatives of glycerol and trimethylolpropane, as well as mixtures of the above-mentioned compounds. The typical molecular weight of these compounds is from about 60 to 300.
The polyether polyols and/or polyester polyols described above are reacted with a diisocyanate compound to form the hydroxy terminated urethane extended prepolymer required for the formation of polyurethane adhesives in accordance with the present invention. The diisocyanate compound is selected from aliphatic, cycloaliphatic and araliphatic diisocyanate compounds. Typical examples of the diisocyanate compounds employed for the preparation of the prepolymer include 1,4-tetramethylene diisocyanate, 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate, 1,4-cyclohexyl diisocyanate, isophorone diisocyanate (1-isocyanato -3,3,5-trimethyl-5-isocyanato-methylcyclohexane), methylene bis (4-cyclohexyl) isocyanate isomers, meta-xylylene diisocyanate and mixtures thereof.
In the present invention the polyether polyol and/or polyester polyol described above is reacted with the diisocyanate compound in the presence of a catalytically effective amount of a non-cytotoxic catalyst. Examples of these catalysts are those selected from the group consisting of dialkyltin mono-and-di-carboxylates, wherein the alkyl group is a straight or branched chain alkyl group having from 6 to 10 carbon atoms with each of said carboxylate groups being a straight or branched chain group having from 2 to 12 carbon atoms, wherein the resulting hydroxy terminated urethane extended prepolymer has a cytotoxicity grade level of from 0 to 2 as defined in, for example U.S. Pharmacopeia XXII, pp. 1495-1496, (1990) and supplement 9, pp. 3575-3576 (Sep. 13, 1993), incorporated herein by reference.
In accordance with the present invention, it was noted that the alkyl groups of dialkyltin mono-and di-carboxylates generally should not exceed 10 carbon atoms, and the chain length of the carboxylate groups should not exceed 12 carbon atoms because the solubility of the dialkyltin mono-and-di-carboxylate catalyst in the polyol can become unacceptable (i.e., the catalyst is too hydrophobic). It has further been found that alkyl groups below 6 carbon atoms can be disadvantageous because such catalysts are cytotoxic having cytotoxic grade levels of at least 3.
The preferred alkyl group for the dialkyl tin mono-and di-carboxylates is an octyl group. The preferred carboxylate groups for the catalyst include acetate, propionate, caproate, ethylhexoate and laurate.
The molecular weight of the catalyst is generally in the range of from 370 to about 2,500. It will be understood that some of the catalysts, e.g., dioctyl tin monolau rate may be in the form of an oligomer and thus have a molecular weight towards the higher end of the range. It is preferred that the catalysts are compatible in the polyol at temperatures of from about 10xc2x0 C. to 40xc2x0 C. This insures that the polymerization reaction between the polyol and the isocyanate will take place at desirable temperatures, typically in the range of from about room temperature to about 100xc2x0 C.
The effectiveness of the catalyst is related to the concentration level under which the catalyst is miscible with the polyol. As previously indicated, the catalyst should be compatible with the polyol at temperatures of from about 10xc2x0 C. to 40xc2x0 C. If the catalyst is not sufficiently miscible in the polyol, the catalyst is inefficient in polymerizing the reaction of the polyol and the diisocyanate. For this reason, the activity of the catalyst and its molecular weight can be important factors. Consequently, the effectiveness of the catalyst not only relates to solubility of the catalyst in the polyol but also to the level of the catalyst in the mixture of the polyol and the isocyanate compound. It is for these reasons, that the length of the alkyl chain (6-10 carbon atoms) and the length of the carboxylate group (2 to 12 carbon atoms) can be important features related to the effectiveness of the catalyst for the production of polyurethane adhesives.
Preferred catalysts for the polymerization of polyurethane adhesives in accordance with the present invention include, for example, di-n-hexyltin diacetate, di-n-hexyltin dipropionate, di-n-hexyltin dicaproate, di-n-hexyltin di-2-ethylhexoate, di-n-hexyltin mono-2-ethylhexoate, di-n-hexyltin dilaurate, di-n-hexyltin monolaurate, di-2-ethylhexyltin diacetate, di-2-ethylhexyltin dicaproate, di-2-ethylhexyltin di-2-ethylhexoate, di-2-ethylhexyltin dilaurate, di-2-ethylhexyltin monolaurate and the like. Particularly preferred catalysts which exhibit both superior solubility in the polyol and excellent catalytic activity are dioctyltin carboxylates especially dioctyltin diacetate, dioctyltin monolaurate, and dioctyltin dilaurate.
The concentration of the catalyst for polymerization of the polyol and the isocyanate compound to form the hydroxyl terminated prepolymer is generally at least 0.02% by weight, based on the total weight of the reactants (polyol and diisocyanate) composition. A typical amount of the catalyst is from about 0.02 to 0.1% by weight.
It is an important feature of the present invention that the catalyst be added to the polyol and that the catalyst be fully compatible with the polyol at temperatures of from about 10xc2x0 C. to 40xc2x0 C. in order to avoid significant deviation of the desired molecular weight and molecular weight distribution of the polyurethane adhesive.
The polymerization reaction for the formation of the hydroxyl terminated prepolymer is, as previously indicated, typically in the range of from about room temperature to about 100xc2x0 C., preferably at a temperature of from about room temperature to about 80xc2x0 C., for a time sufficient to form the prepolymer.
The hydroxy-terminated urethane-extended prepolymers described above may be produced in the following manner. The polyol component (e.g., ACCLAIM(copyright)) is reacted with an aliphatic, cycloaliphtic of araliphatic diisocyanate to form a medium molecular weight hydroxyl-terminated polymeric urethane polyaddition polymer intermediate. As previously indicated, the reaction may be conducted in the presence of a lower molecular weight hydroxy containing compound in which the molar ratio of the lower molecular weight compound to the polyol starting material is from about 0.25 to 1.25:1.0. The lower molecular weight hydroxy containing compound desirably forms a fully compatible solution before addition of the chain-extending diisocyanate. The reaction is catalyzed by one of the previously discussed non-cytotoxic catalysts in an amount typically from about 0.02 to 0.1% by weight based on the weight of the polyol and diisocyanate to achieve a reasonably short reaction time during the polyaddition reaction.
The addition of the starting polyether and/or polyester polyol alone or in combination with the lower molecular weight hydroxy containing compound into the reaction vessel is made under conditions which substantially eliminate outside moisture. One such way of ensuring this condition is by the employment of a dry nitrogen stream.
The non-cytotoxic catalyst in an amount typically from about 0.02 to 0.1% by weight, is added to the polyol mixture and blended until a homogeneous mixture is obtained. The mixture is heated to a preferred temperature of from about room temperature to about 80xc2x0 C., followed by the addition of the diisocyanate compound at a rate of addition that avoids an exotherm formation of a temperature higher than about 80xc2x0 C. After addition of the desired amount of the diisocyanate compound, the contents of the vessel are stirred until the presence of NCO cannot be detected by typical analysis. The resulting polyol addition product is analyzed for hydroxyl content in a conventional manner to determine the equivalent weight per hydroxyl group of the hydroxyl-terminated prepolymer.
The resulting hydroxyl terminated prepolymer has a minimum viscosity of at least 5,000 and typically from about 5,000 to 20,000 cps at a temperature of from about 25 to 35xc2x0 C. The desirable viscosity substantially eliminates beading of the mixture as it goes through the polymerization process, when deposited on a silicon treated release paper. The thus formed prepolymer is reacted with an isocyanate compound having a functionality of at least 2.0 in the presence of a non-cytotoxic catalyst in an amount of typically from about 0.5 to 1.5% by weight based on the total weight of the polyurethane adhesive composition.
The isocyanate compounds have a preferred functionality of at least 3, most preferably from about 3.0 to 3.6. The preferred triisocyanates (functionality of at least 3.0) are commercially available and include the DESMODUR series of isocyanates obtained from Bayer AG. This series of triisocyanates has a functionality typically from about 3.1 to 3.6 and an isocyanate equivalent weight of from about 190 to 210. Specifically, examples include DESMODUR N3300 having a functionality of from about 3.4 to 3.6 and an isocyanate equivalent weight of from about 190 to 200. Another preferred example is DESMODUR XP7100 which has a functionality of from about 3.1 to about 3.3 and an isocyanate equivalent weight of from about 200 to 210.
Other isocyanate compounds which may be employed in the reaction with the prepolymer to produce the polyurethane adhesives are disclosed in W. F. Gum et al. (Reaction Polymers), Chapter II, pages 58-61 (1992) and Polyurethane Handbook edited by Gunter Oertel, Chapter 3.2, Isocyanates, pages 73-81 and 87-82 (1993), each of which is incorporated herein by reference. All of the polyisocyanates employed for the production of the polyurethane adhesives are selected from aliphatic, cycloaliphatic and araliphatic polyisocyanates as well as cyclicpolyisocyanurate and polyfunctional biuret derivatives from such monomeric polyisocyanates. The polyisocyanates employed in the present invention are preferably those that produce transparent adhesives which are color stable and suitable for medical uses such as ostomy and wound care.
The polyurethane adhesive composition produced in accordance with the present invention typically has a molar excess of hydroxyl groups of at least 10%, typically in the range of from about 10% to 40% over fully reacted isocyanate groups. In a preferred form of the invention, the adhesive matrix exhibits a grade level cytotoxicity of from 0 to no more than about 2 and contains a residual amount of the non-cytotoxic catalyst in the range of from about 0.5% to 1.5%.
The reaction of the prepolymer and the isocyanate compound to form the polyurethane pressure sensitive adhesive is conducted so that the isocyanate index [expressed as the ratio of total equivalents (EQ) of isocyanate to total equivalents of active hydrogen compounds (hydroxyl, amine and waterxc3x97100)], is typically in the range of from about 50 to 90, preferably from about 65 to 85. Operating within these ranges provides the polyurethane pressure sensitive adhesive with desirable tack properties.
The pressure-sensitive polyurethane compositions of the present invention may also contain, fillers, synthetic zeolites, pigments, dyes, stabilizers, tackifiers, plasticizers, combinations thereof and other additives which are known in the polyurethane chemistry.
Tackifiers such as those conventionally employed in the preparation of polyurethane adhesives can be used to widen the useful operating window for the achievement of reproduceable and acceptable skin tack as well as other properties. In fact, the use of tackifiers can provide a dramatic improvement in the cytotoxicity levels of the polyurethane compound.
Thus, tackifiers can effectively shift the isocyanate equivalent value in order to modify the polyurethane composition according to need. Typical tackifiers include terpene phenol resins, rosin ester derivatives, and related products, having slightly polar characteristics. The amount of tackifier employed in the composition is typically no more than about 15% by weight, most typically from about 5 to 15% by weight based on the weight of the polyurethane adhesive composition. The tackifier can be added and melt blended if necessary during or after preparation of the hydroxyl terminated prepolymer.
The polymerization reaction of the hydroxyl terminated prepolymer and the isocyanate compound is typically conducted at a temperature from 80 to 145xc2x0 C., preferably from 100 to 135xc2x0 C. and most preferably from about 120 to 130xc2x0 C. with the desire of having a relatively short cure time. The polymerization reaction is preferably conducted in a continuous cure tunnel at a residence of time of less than 5 minutes, typically from about 1.5 to 3 minutes.
The present invention may be employed to prepare self-adhesive sheet-like structures in the medical field, in particular for ostomy devices, wound plasters, wound dressings, gauze bandages, and the like. The adhesive composition can also contain antimicrobial drugs, antibiotics, drugs for transdermal absorption, electrical conduction chemicals, superabsorbers for removal of wound exudate, growth factor compounds efficient in wound healing, and the like, provided these materials do not adversely effect the cross-linking reaction of the pressure-sensitive urethane matrix polymer.